Interview with Warpath

Warpath are an old style thrash band from the UK and they recently released a powerful album called "Damnation". I recently got to interview them and find out more.

Hello, please introduce yourselves and tell us what instrument you play.
Hey Mark, my name’s Rich Goss and I front Warpath, playing rhythm guitar and main vocals.

I’m James Davenport the drummer.

Hi, I’m Pete Hawthorne and I pretend to play the lead guitars in Warpath!

Joel Jordan and I play the Bass guitar and backing vocals.

Tell us a little about your band’s history.
Rich: I formed Warpath in late 2003. We recorded a few demo tapes and played live for the following two years building our name in the UK. In December 2005 we entered Bridgerow Studio’s (Wales) to record the 5 track EP ‘Cataclysm’ which we released in January 2006, receiving positive reviews across Europe and worldwide airplay, helping to build the band’s name further in the UK and abroad. Just over a year later, James and I began to write and demo tracks for the Damnation album, with recording beginning mid-June. During this time Pete joined the band as lead guitarist, and soon after Joel on bass. The album was mixed and mastered in the USA around Christmas time, and then we shot the video for Damnation back in London, UK in January. The album and video were then released in May.



Who are your influences?
Rich: My rhythm guitar playing is influenced by Chuck Shuldiner (Death), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) and James Hetfield (Metallica). Those guys are insane rhythm guitarists and listening to them always makes me want to improve my guitar playing. I’m also classically trained since the age of five, so I have a lot of influences there, my favourite being Paganini. I also enjoy listening to Andres Segovia’s guitar playing. Vocals…I wouldn’t say influences but my favourite vocalists have to be Matt Barlow (Iced Earth), James Hetfield on the ‘And Justice For All’ album, and Freddie Mercury.

James: Hmm, this is a tough question. I grew up listening to extreme metal and heavier music than the rest of the band did. Fear Factory’s drummer, Raymond Herrera, influences my drumming style, as well as Derek Roddy’s drumming in Hate Eternal and Serpants Rise, George Kollias (Nile), Tim Yeung (Devine Heresy) and Franky Costanza of French metal band Dagoba. I take influences from everything I listen to. I do like smooth jazz, classical percussion, Arabian and Egyptian tribal drumming.

Pete: For me I would say my main influences for playing started with Dave Murray from Iron Maiden. The first time I heard his lead work I was blown away by his tone and the way his solos just flow perfectly. Apart from him, I am heavily influenced by Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Glen Drover (Eidolon) and more recently Doug Aldrich who has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion & Hurricane to name a few.

Joel: My influences vary from a range of guitar and bass players. For bass it would have to be Cliff Burton (Metallica), David Ellefson (Megadeth), John Myung (Dream Theater) and Steve Harris (Iron Maiden). Those were the musicians that pretty much got me to pick up a bass and learn their amazing bass lines. I also appreciate a lot of vocalists including Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Tom Ayra (Slayer) and James Hetfield (Metallica).

Tell us some about your new album “Damnation”. What has been the reaction to your new album so far?
Rich: The reviews and fans reactions so far have been phenomenal! Damnation recently won ‘Album of the Month’, has had a lot of ‘9 out of 10’s’ scores and was also recently rated in the top 5 ‘Metal Albums of 2008’, Testament’s new album being 1st on the list, and ours ranking 4th. Damnation sold out all copies in Osaka, Japan within two days of going on sale, which was great news. We were also the Number 1 Unsigned Thrash / Metal band on Myspace Top Artists for June. We’ve attracted label attention since the album’s release and our music video has been added to Scuzz TV Videos this week.

Joel: The way things are going is great! A lot of people have bought the album and love it. Fans show us a lot of support from around the world. Damnation selling out in Osaka just seemed incredible to me!

James: Crowd reactions at gigs we have played have been totally insane. There are people of all ages coming to gigs and going wild for us.

James Murphy (Obituary, Death, Testament) mastered your new album. How did you meet him? What was it like working with him?
Rich: When I was looking for someone to master the Damnation album I instantly thought of James Murphy, being a big fan of his tracks with Death and Testament and knowing of his production work. I contacted him and he agreed to work with us, which was a big honour! I was talking to him a few days ago actually about him possibly mixing the next album.

Pete: Yeah, when you hear the name James Murphy you instantly think, “Wow, this is some serious metal we’re in for.” For him to not only want to work with us means he likes our material and for someone like me who loves his work in Obituary and Disincarnate as well as the others Rich mentioned is just a metal dream come true!

What are some of your favorite albums of 2008 so far?
Rich: To be honest, I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly had any time to check out new albums this year. At some point I’ll be checking out Testament’s new album, as well as Gamma Bomb and Pitiful Reign’s.

Joel: Well most of my collection is from the 80s! But I’d say Gamma Bomb’s new album is pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, I haven’t really had the time to check out many albums this year. I did manage to get Dream Theatre’s ‘Best Hits’ which was a must because I am also a progressive fan!

James: Fury and The Flames from Hate Eternal and Prevail from Kataklysm. That’s pretty much it. Most of the other stuff I have heard is pretty much the same as albums from 2002 – 2007.

Pete: Kataklysm – ‘Prevail’ \m/

Who have you opened for? What have been some of your more memorable shows so far?
Rich: We played the first Full Thrash Assault Festival along side Evile and Pitiful Reign, which was cool. We’ve played hundreds of shows across the UK and played with many great bands. Unfortunately, we missed out on playing Bloodstock Open Air Unsigned this year, despite having the most votes. Go figure!



Have you played outside of the UK yet? If not then do you plan to anytime in the near future?
Rich: We’re currently working with booking agencies to play our first European shows later this year, with more planned for 2009. We’re also looking into the possibility of playing in Japan, as we have many Japanese fans and the album’s selling extremely well there.

There has been a great deal of thrash bands coming from different countries over the last few years. Why do you think there are so many younger bands doing a style that was so popular twenty some years ago?
Rich: Well, the whole predictable hardcore screaming and break down patterns really are becoming stale (in my opinion) and the metal scene is desperate for bands with killer riffs, fast drums, blistering solos, etc. But, I also think that it’s become trendy to play this style of music, so people are jumping on the bandwagon. You tend to see many bands that used to be a hardcore band now calling them selves ‘Thrash Metal’ which is amusing.

Pete: As much as I love thrash metal and it’s great seeing all these bands popping up, it is becoming somewhat of a, like Rich said “trend” to play fast, speedy, retro thrash, which is why I feel we stand out so much, as our musical basis is so much more solid and mature, instead of copying the latest craze.

Joel: Metal needs a fresh attack. Thrash is the one to do that! I’m sick of hardcore and screamo bands classing themselves as Thrash. Most of the music isn't even fast!

James: Seriously, how many people have seen kids on a stage having massive tantrums? It wasn’t even good to start with. All true metal fans are sick of massive labels signing these awful bands and TV is full of them. I’ve been listening to metal for years and years and I can only name a handful of bands that aren’t copying or ripping off other bands and calling it their own.



Do you think thrash bands of today are doing much different from the thrash bands of the 1980’s? If so, then how are they different?
Rich: Some are, but most aren’t sadly. The ones that do are playing with a more modern twist to it. Some are far faster than the 80’s bands. We incorporate death metal drumming techniques (kick drum patterns, blast beats, etc) into our songs to make it faster and more interesting, plus the riffs I write are fairly tricky to play rather than just standard E string tremolo picking! I think production nowadays is much better and has far more impact than before. I do think though that some of the new thrash bands are blatantly ripping off many 80’s bands. There are a few I listen to, where I don’t just think ‘That reminds me of Metallica and Testament, wicked’ or ‘Cool, you can tell they’re inspired by Exodus’, but I’ve actually found myself thinking or saying ‘What the hell…that IS a Testament riff!’

We’re extremely pleased that we’re carving out our own sound, and that reviewers are saying that we sound unique and stand out.

James: Writing the drums for Damnation was great. Rich’s face lit up when I showed him the ideas. Mixing extreme metal drumming with old school thrash made it sound awesome. We tried to avoid using a lot of blast beats because it kills the thrash feel to the tracks, everything is used at the right time and, with Rich’s input, we made the drum tracks brutal. We see a lot of the hardcore bands using blast beats that are played out of time and used all the time. It sounds terrible. I’ve noticed a lot of the thrash bands of today are going for this cartoon comic book image on their artwork; nuclear waste, gasmasks, bullet belts, etc. I’m not a fan of this. We deal with real life and things that affect everyone.

How have you guys progressed since you first started out?
Rich: Well, we started out as I think every other band starts out, recording on a tape player, writing as many songs as we could, but nowadays we’re far more selective with material. We’re far better musicians now than when we first started out, the song writing is more complex, and of course the recording quality is better.

James: When I first joined Warpath in 2006, I learnt a lot about how things work with writing and production. We don’t just slap together a few riffs, drums and call it a track; we make sure everything fits and works perfectly. When we do write a track, we spend hours trying different things out and variations that fit, making sure each note is perfect. I remember Pete recording the guitar solos for Damnation and Rich with the rhythm & vocals, hours of takes until we found the perfect ones.

In what areas do you think that you still need to improve?
Rich: For me, I’m constantly striving to improve my rhythm guitar playing and vocals. Although with vocals, you’ll never please everyone. Some people love my vocal style and some people dislike it. I just sing however I want. I refuse to sing ‘cookie monster’ vocals because I can’t stand that style; I think it’s ridiculous. I have a few new things planned for the next album though!

James: Screaming vocals in thrash aren’t cool. Thrash was never intended to sound that way. Drum wise, I will never consider myself good enough. I want to get to the level where things considered impossible are possible.

Pete: I am always trying to improve my playing in both rhythm and lead departments and push myself the best I can as a musician.



Pick the band from each of the following pair that you prefer and tell why.

Raven or Venom
Rich: I don’t like either band.

Pete: Raven…(the pack is back!)

Joel: Lay down your souls to the Gods of rock and roll! Venom wins this one. They kind of shocked everyone when they came out and that’s what’s cool about them.

Bolt Thrower or Onslaught
Rich: Bolt Thrower – Those Once Loyal kicks ass! Karl the vocalist was really complimentary about Warpath too, which was ace. I do like Onslaught as well though. I found out recently that I teach one of their guitarist Andy’s students too. He has guitar lessons from both of us.

Joel: They’re both really good bands. But I’d have to say the Bolt Thrower riffs draw me in more.

Pete: BOLT THROWER!!! (Although I love Onslaught’s 1989 ‘In Search Of Sanity’ and it is one of my favorite thrash albums, even though a lot of people dislike it. The track “Welcome To Dying” rocks!)

Testament or Exodus
Rich: Testament all the way! Exodus have wicked songs, but Chuck’s vocals win!

Joel: Testament! The songs are awesome and have some of the best guitar solos I’ve heard.

Pete: TestAmenT.

Anthrax or Slayer
Rich: Slayer without a doubt.

Joel: Slayer are a band you can let all your anger flow with. Tom Araya’s vocals impress me.

Pete: Umm neither, although if there was a gun at my head I would probably say Slayer!

Is there anything else you would like to say about your band or your music?
Rich: I’d like to thank everyone that has bought the album and our merchandise for supporting us. It’s always appreciated. Keep thrashing, and we’re looking forward to making new fans on tour!

Pete: We really appreciate everyone’s support so far and we can’t wait to meet new fans on the road. Watch out for us, as we are only going to get faster and way more technical! All the best & keep rockin’!!

http://www.myspace.com/warpathuk